Preface

“...would wring bitter tears, indeed, would
distress his heart, if he wished to re-
nounce the vanity to which he, along with the great
throng of the deceived, offers sacrifice.”

Therefore—the hatred and the contempt which falls upon the true worshippers of Jesus, we will gladly bear. We wish to love everyone who is hostile to us; we wish to implore the eternal Friend Referring to Jesus Christ who died for his enemies, that he might lead them back to the knowledge and to the love of the truth—and look after those who, like his disciple A reference to the Apostle Peter's denial of Christ (though certainly more maliciously than he), deny him. But this is to be regretted—this is unbearable: that which is said and written with so much noise and general outcry of fanaticism Schwärmerey: a derogatory 18th-century term for religious enthusiasm or "fanaticism" that lacked rational basis, to the detriment of so many people who would never have fallen into any suspicion against true Christianity. Had they wished to instruct Christendom as to "what fanaticism actually is," then indeed even the more simple-minded person...